Why Star Trek NEEDS Borg

The Borg are one of, if not the biggest danger to the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet, but I have seen a lot of talk sating they are overplayed. While I agree, I think their very existence is necessary for Star Trek based on their lore and story potential.

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This Video is for critical purposes with commentary.

Outro Animation made by @icarogabriel17

[StevenHouse]

Starfleet trys to "Walk quietly and carry a Big Stick" But until thay had a run in with The Borg, they did not realy understand just how much of a "Big Stick" was actualy needed to just survive the Borg underestimateing them.

[daverapp]

Presenting the Borg as a shattered, fallen, former galactic super power that other races are picking over for technology was one of the few things Picard did right, in season 1 anyway. Keeping them that way allows them to be mysterious and potentially awe-inspiring, which is the main traits they lost after constantly losing to the crews of the Enterprise and Voyager. I like the idea that there are a million derelict Borg ships and facilities sitting out in space, the drones all dead and/or disconnected, waiting for some schmuck to stumble upon them... And the idea that if all this broken infrastructure started working again, the galaxy would again face an existential threat that they thought they were safe from.

I also like the idea of Janeway being known galaxy-wide as "That crazy psycho who broke the Borg" because really that show was what ruined them.

[Jimmy]

I liked the Shellac Confederacy as a "too alien to understand" antagonist species in TNG, and I was disappointed they didn't get reused beyond their one and only appearance

[Talon]

At a base level, the Borg are also driven by an ideology: assimilation and advancement. This ideology could be applied to almost any civilization and is IN FACT the core premise of Federation. “To seek out new life and new civilizations”

[nathanjacquart]

I agree. I think the Borg represent the best narrative foil to the values of The Federation. Both seek the same things (peace, connection, unity, growth, advancement, safety) but their mentality and methodology are so starkly different. The Federation aims to accomplish those things through agreements crafted through understanding and coexistence to hopefully meet an eventual assimilation of culture while The Borg force compliance with their values through assimilation. Only The Dominion really comes close to being another great foil to The Federation, but they can be reasoned with.

[SKy_the_Thunder]

Post-Janeway and the Shattering of the original Collective, Star Trek is in the perfect position to use the Borg for _all_ those roles at the same time.

We've seen plenty of different ways Borg disconnected from the rest of the hivemind behave. Some return to their original personalities, larger groups will often form "sub-collectives" until they can re-integrate into the Collective proper, others end up in a vegetative state with little self-awareness and a lack of tasks, etc...
This can be used to set up various different post-Borg factions. There may be several competing Collectives that all are just different enough to see the others as corrupted versions that need to be forcefully re-integrated. These can range from variants where the Queen puppets all her drones, over ones that only use a "queen" as a communication nexus (like Locutus), all the way to variants that reject the concept of a queen outright and act like those we were originally introduced to. Then there may be friendly "collectives" like the Cooperative, and various versions of de-assimilated refugees and resistance groups. But you can go full on "monster" as well, with for example a small "Borg marauder" faction, which are mindlessly obsessed with assimilating others, to the point that they have "enhanced" their bodies so much, they barely look humanoid anymore, in order to be more efficient hunters...

Plenty of paths to explore, as long as they don't try to do everything at once with them...

[marcellinma]

The Borg in many ways presents the antithesis to Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, even moreso than the Terran Empire of the Mirror Universe.

At it's core, Starfleet represents the value of curiosity and cooperation. They believe that different peoples can contribute their unique talents and perspectives towards their mutual benefit and that knowledge and exploration of the universe is valuable in and of itself.

The Borg have a similar goal of mutual benefit but fail to recognize that the unique talents which contribute to that common good arise from one's individual experiences. Instead, they see individuality as a hinderance due to the conflicts that arise from it. Similarly, the Borg's rejection of individuality has robbed them of the ability to innovate or advance on their own. Thus, they constantly need an influx of new species and cultures to assimilate lest they fall behind the other galactic superpowers. For the Borg, exploration is more like hunting for new prey to devour so they can stave off death a little longer.

[Karn]

Felt this after TNG, the Borg needed to be put on the back burner. Voyager made them less of a threat and just kind of there. Like in horror movies where not seeing the monster, or just very small bits of it is scarier than seeing it all the time, that is how the Borg were best used. The Borg were great in their initial introduction and in Best of Both Worlds. Trek is at its best when the character's principles are pushed to their limit or beyond. It is why so much of later DS9 worked too.

Trek was good at having antagonists and not villains, that is what made it so good. Antagonists are not bad they are just against the protagonist.

[Momo-tcsc]

I love the Borg and, while they’ve been over-utilized lately, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of them.

I just pray we never get an origin story because nothing penned in the writers room can ever hope to be as good as the mystery left unexplained.

[shaunryan-izzard]

To me, when done right, the Borg are the ultimate expression of the Kobashi Maru principle. They are so alien to most species in Star Trek, so singular in their purpose, that victories should be fleeting and extremely costly. They are the Star Trek equivalent of the Daleks. There is no negotiation, no diplomacy. They will always come back, never be truely defeated. They are the exception to the rule that, again, was so eloquently spoken of in Doctor Who "You don't know whose children are going to scream and burn! How many hearts will be broken! How many lives shattered! How much blood will spill until everybody does what they were always going to have to do from the very beginning. Sit down and talk!". You simply can't with the Borg.

[TheAsvarduilProject]

Emet-Selch is always welcome on discussions of antagonists. Good play Rick.

[Darmok_]

I think Voyager overused the Borg a bit but part of of why 90s Trek was so compelling was knowing that the Borg were out there and would always be this constant implied unstoppable threat.

[chrisbingley]

I'd argue that the Klingons were never true antagonists in TOS. They were the foil to the Federation. With the Romulans being the antagonists.

[whophd]

“cannot be bargained with” is the best element of the Daleks too

[flagenemyinsight]

I found that a really interesting thing about the 'Lower decks' show was that they changed the Pakleds into a real threat, it was still more of a comedy show but it shows what a few tweaks to a known antagonist might bring. Also I loved how every Federation ship was Enterprise and every female protagonist was Janeway.

[daviddyster]

After Picard, I think the Borg should be placed on the back burner.

[mesnerx]

I think using Star Trek's Online faction of "The Cooperative" was a good plot point. Former drones that formed a new collective but one where each drone has autonomy, or a choice to try to return to their old lives. Yet they still use the Borg's technology, hive mind, and adaptation against them. The other side of that coin in Season 1 of Picard was a very horrifying and sympathetic tone with former drones. And showing various reactions to being disconnected from the hive mind. The collective literally destroying their minds, leaving mental scars to some akin to severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Or those who come out relatively unscathed such as Seven of Nine and Hugh.

To that end, if Star Trek wants another unyielding foe to give the Borg a little break, I say just make a canon version of the Iconian War

[j.j.]

I like the idea of a villain like the Borg. I think it’s great to have an antagonist in the galaxy that can make two enemies, possibly, stop fighting each other and temporarily align to fight off a third foe before going back to trying to kill each other. If not the Borg then would still be great for our storytelling to have a villain of that nature involved in someway.

[keithtorgersen]

One of the nuances discussed in Voyager is the episode where Seven of Nine had to deal with the whole issue of forcibly reassimilating the 3 drones because she was afraid of becoming an individual at that time.

[pojuwolf]

Rick, I have been watching Star Trek since 1965 when I could at my Grandparent's home in St. Louis, Missouri. My home iof Columbia MO only had two broadcast stations, 8 and 12 and neither carried it. I immediately loved the stories and the ships. I stumbled upon Certifiably Ingame a month ago and have since been watching the continuing series. Brilliant. And perfectly intune with the values of Star Fleet as they have changed. I had tired of the Star Trek Universe after Enterprise, and not being a gamer, I missed out on the Star Trek Online. You have revitalized my interest and love of the stories. Thank you. Incidentally I agree with you assessment of the Borg. I still remember ST: First Contact and the horror of the collective. It did get me thinking. The drones are not just terrifying assimilators, they are victims ...poignantly shown as Picard tore open a recently assimilated Star Fleet officer on the pool table. It was extremely eye opening.